A Shout for Democracy By Martha Randolph Carr Sometimes other countries look at America and mistake how we practice capitalism with the ideal of democracy. They call for our demise based on the former, which is a business model, even while they’re lunging toward the latter, which is a much bigger dream. Take Iran, for example, which recently had presidential elections with a disputed outcome. Now, no one is...

Dr. E. here, bringing you a clear analysis of the Iranian means of protest by Guest Voice, Dr. Omed. His long-lived blog at Salon.com, Dr. Omed’s Tent Show Revival, has now moved here, and continues to be a brew of informed political stance, articulate outrage, and ever fierce heart. Dr. Omed, is an Okie writer who is multilingual as news analyst, poet and artist. You can see his works called ScissorDance,...

An End to Buffoonish Fathers by Tom Purcell Ah, Father’s Day is upon us. I can’t think of a better time for dads and men to remember how to be dads and men. Flip on the tube any time during the day and you’ll see fathers portrayed as hapless buffoons – saved from themselves by their wives and all-knowing children. The real life of the modern dad isn’t much prettier. To be sure, the state of the American...

Obama, GM’s new Chairman by Scott McKain If my very future depended upon selecting a single person to sink just one basketball shot, I’m picking Michael Jordan. If my life hung in the balance, and one individual from our history had to present an oration that would determine my survival, I would beg Martin Luther King to speak on my behalf. So, why in the moment of its greatest trial would General...

Guest post by Jessie Daniels As we watch with interest the events unfolding in Iran, one of the major stories dominating the headlines is the Twitter effect. Twitter, and other new media, have given a global voice to the angst over the elections and have made the intensity of those marching in Tehran palpable to those sitting on the couch watching halfway around the world. Most importantly, the social networking...

Orangette…Cannelle et Vanille…Chez Pim…Dorie Greenspan…Becks & Posh…Steamy Kitchen..Homesick Texan…The Bitten Word…Tartelette. Hey what are these funny names? If you ever get tired of reading the political blogs…you may turn your attention to the above mentioned “appetizing” blogs included in The Times “50 of the world’s best food...

My fascination for bus rides and backpacking/trekking has remained intact. I was delighted to learn that even among the car-loving Americans, bus travel is now becoming popular. Well, this may cause a social and economic revolution in the USA!!! People are more “loath to get into their cars.” The Federal Highway Administration says Americans drove 81 billion fewer miles in the year ended January...

How does one make the USA, or the world, more secure? History tells us that ultimately a nation has to fall back upon the tried and tested “civilian instruments” such as diplomacy and foreign aid. The world has seen the dangers inherent in “creeping militarisation” of US foreign policy. Lexington, in his column in The Economist, states: “Mrs (Hillary) Clinton’s success has partly been a matter...

The ex-Beatles pop music sensation Sir Paul McCartney and his two daughters are avidly campaigning for meatless Mondays to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s livestock, among the most serious contributors to global warming.” The Independent reports: “The McCartneys have attracted support from across the worlds of showbusiness, science, business and the environment. The...

While the US media and the blogs are going hysterical about the health care issues of “Americans”, Mary Clare Jalonick (Associated Press Writer) provides us with a moving insight into the continued poverty, deprivation and neglect of the “other” Americans — the indigenous people who live within the borders of the United States of America. The story revolves round the death of...

Efficient Nationalized Health Care? Not So Fast… by Michael Reagan President Barack Obama has undertaken the expansion of health care to the roughly 45 million Americans who do not currently have health insurance. Having about one American in seven with no health insurance is undeniably an undesirable situation which deserves our attention and concern. This is not just a matter of compassion either, but also...

The Privatization of “Obama’s War” Michael Winship The sudden reappearance of former Vice President Dick Cheney over the last few months – seeming to emerge from his famous undisclosed location more frequently now than he ever did when he was in office – does not mean six more weeks of winter. But it does bring to mind that classic country and western song, “How Can I Miss...

President Barack Obama’s speech from Cairo generated lots of comment all over the world and, in the United States, on the left and the right due to his comments about the Middle East on and Muslims. In this Guest Voice post, conservative writers Floyd and Mary Beth Brown argue that Obama team owes Floyd an apology due to the way they responded to his raising questions about Obama’s Muslim ties during...

Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of journalist Bob Laurence’s letters from Brooklyn which detail life there and in NYC. Bob left his longtime home in San Diego and moved to “the big city.” I learned the original meaning of ‘stoop’ over the weekend. A stoop is the short staircase that leads up from the sidewalk to the front door of the brownstone homes in New...

Speaking Flattery to Power By Barry Rubin Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo is one of the most bizarre orations ever made by a U.S. president, not a foreign policy statement but rather something invented by Obama, an international campaign speech, as if his main goal was to obtain votes in the next Egyptian primary. That approach defined Obama’s basic themes: Islam’s great. America is good. We’re sorry....

Sonia from the Block by Will Durst The president revealed his nominee for the Supreme Court, selecting a 54-year-old daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants who had been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush. And what a genius political move it was. Sonia Sotomayor: a woman AND a Hispanic. From the South Bronx. A Catholic with diabetes. Regrettably,...

Everyone Should See Torturing Democracy by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship In all the recent debate over torture, many of our Beltway pundits and politicians have twisted themselves into verbal contortions to avoid using the word at all. During his speech to the conservative American Enterprise Institute last week – immediately on the heels of President Obama’s address at the National Archives –...

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of letters from Brooklyn, that are actually fascinating emails sent out by former San Diego Union Tribune TV columnist Bob Laurence. He sends these out by email but they are so fascinating that they are virtual newspaper columns and — with his full permission — we will start running them here. When I worked with him on the newspaper years ago (I...

Sonia Sotomayor The Future of Affirmative Action by Michael Reagan Yesterday’s nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court was a historic moment that all Americans should appreciate. Her life story represents the great promise of the American dream — Sotomayor has lived in both a public housing project in the Bronx and in the dorm rooms of Princeton and Yale. Through hard work,...

Netanyahu’s Peace Plan by Barry Rubin In his successful meeting with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a superb, workable peace plan backed by a wide Israeli consensus Those obsessed with whether Netanyahu would say the “two-state solution” mantra missed it. In fact, though Netanyahu didn’t accept that framework precisely because he and his Labor party...

An Old Soldier Takes A Trip To The Past By George Stantis I am 83 years old, and I’ve taken lots of trips. But this one would take me back nearly 65 years. Like a child, my emotions were already asking: ”Are we there yet?” I was on my way to Washington, D.C., to see the national memorial dedicated to those who served in World War II. Already, it was bringing back those days, and emotions...

The Cheney Doctrine by Will Durst I’m sick of torture. And the fact that we’re one of the countries way up there on the J.D. Powers annual “torture reliability” list makes me unwell as well. As does talking AROUND torture. What this country needs is an up-front national referendum on whether we should or shouldn’t be torturing people. Oh wait. That’s right, we did have one. Last November 4th. These...

Editor’s Note: When Israel’s new conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meets President Barack Obama at the White House today the two leaders will press two different agendas. Barry Rubin of The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center in Israel has some thoughts on this. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its writers. The Peace Process Industry’s...

What’s So Funny about Washington? by Michael Winship A joke is a sometime thing, as wide as a church door or as delicate as a rose. The right or wrong word, too many or too few, their placement or emphasis can determine whether it’s a total dud or fall down funny; the difference, as Mark Twain said, between the lightning bug and lightning. Too much explanation or thought can whip a...

GOP’s Get Out Of Jail Free Card: Charlie Crist by Dalitso Njolinjo Let me say from the start that Charlie Crist will be a problem for the Democratic Party. Team Obama and Governor/ Chairman Kaine have taken great steps to paint the face Republican Party to resemble individuals such as Rush Limbaugh, George Bush and Dick Chaney but Charlie Crist does not fit snugly into that mode. Don’t get it confused,...